Hi everyone, been a while. It’s Natsumi from BL online store team.

I bet you are starting to get a bit full with all the SWIFT CAMPOUT reports released day by day? But we also had a great one like every other team as well, so we’d be glad if you could read it through!

 

Our team played at Akiruno City, Tokyo.

The theme of our trip was “take-it-easy-and-eat-many-delicious-foods camp!!” As a head of BL gourmet finding (named it myself), I really needed a delicious objective when planning our camping trip!

Our team members were Aro-chan (Photographer), Peak-san (Online Store Staff), MAX-san (Sewing Team Staff), Cent-san (Mechanic at Yoyogi Park Store), and me. Quite a unusual combination!

Cent-san is the only member who goes camping often, the rest are not so used to riding long hours, and to be honest most didn’t wanna go super hard… hahaha.

So this year we’ve made a camping plan that is enjoyable for even people like us!

 

A relatively relaxing start in the morning. We all met up at Izumi-Tamagawa train station.

(MAX-san joined us later as he had his daughter’s sports day on the same day. Will turn up shortly)

Ohayo~ (Good morning~), as we greet each other, we chatted a while about how each of us packed our own bikes.


Okay, shall we start then!

Every year the CAMPOUT is held in the middle of a rainy season in Japan, but like last year, it was sunny this time as well!

It was Aro-chan’s first bike packing trip, but look how lovely has she has done it!

The Smile Reflector and the lantern is Kawaii, can feel her excitement!

 

We had a relaxing ride along the Tama River as we glance kids playing baseball, and runners.

With this cycling road, nobody gets lost riding alongside the river.

It’s a lot warmer than we though, Let’s keep going with good amount of water breaks!

Our first destination is “Tokyo Terra Farm” (JP website only!)

This is where you can try out vegetable picking, and we did so to prepare our dinner supply.

We arrived a bit behind schedule, and as we rode in saying that we are sorry for being late, two friendly guys and a cat welcomed us saying “Oh no worries! Where have you arrived from with your bikes? Must have been tough!”

It was all green around us, almost had to believe that this is also Tokyo. It was a peaceful place to spend.

This is their pet cat, Yamato (named after the black cat logo of Yamato courier service, because he was so black when he was little)

Everyone was drawn in to him, he was so friendly…

We started picking vegetables as we were taught what it seasonal at the moment.

We enjoyed the picking so much, was surprised how each vegetable we see in supermarkets grow in unique shapes and sizes, or how strong the vegetable and the dirt smells.


Pick it and ate some of them right after!

The best thing about vegetable harvesting. This tomato was so deep in flavor, so delicious.

We want that for sure! How should we cook this? We chose what we want as we talked about dinner.

Yes!! We got loads!!

Whilst we were taking a rest, they brought us steamed potatoes.

Warm and fluffy…


A tiny pinch of salt on this piping hot potato. Gorgeous.

And at this very moment, MAX-san arrived!


“Found a good looking bakery so I bought some bread there for breakfast tomorrow!”

Brilliant! Can’t wait for it!

 

So, now we have all the team together, let me introduce this truly unique team!(We borrowed the farm’s very cool woven hat for taking photos. haha)

***Cent-san (Yoyogi Park Mechanic)***

He’s the senior member in this trip when it comes to camp rides.

Effortless well-organized packing, super cool…

***Peak-san (Online Store Staff)***

It might be quite rare to see him for all of you, as he works behind the scenes.

I’d say he has the most comforting character out of all the members. He came with is brand new CLEM! Suiting him very well!

***MAX-san (Sewing Team Staff)***

Everyone’s big brother character. He joined us hearing about our gourmet camp theme, yay!

MAX-san comes in a pair with his JOE APPALOOSA. He has some cool looking bag… (For more information about the bag, wait for more news to come!)

***Aro-chan (Photographer)***

Her first CAMPOUT! Took so many great photos of us, thanks!

Even though it was her first time, she packed so well including camera gears. So lovely…

***Natsumi (Online Store Staff)***

My 2nd CAMPOUT. Went with the same Riv HOMER, and with all the reflection I had from last year, I think the packing is a lot smarter this time?

I brought an empty 139 basket to pack those vegetables!

That’s all, now, shall we head to our campsite?

Thank you for all the fresh vegetables! It was sad parting with them, had a great time.

They were such cool guys…

Swiftly finished our shopping at the nearby supermarket the farm taught us.

We all came with a lot of room to pack on our bikes, so having more food was not a problem.

I think with the experience we’ve got through our previous camp rides, I feel like we are all getting better at it.

 

It was only a 30 minute ride from the farm to the campsite.

There weren’t so many hills along the way, so I think you can try it even you are not confident with your fitness.

As we started to feel a comfortable amount of sweat, we reached camp!

Today we stayed at a campsite called “Shizenjin-Mura”

Apart from the tent area we used, they also had tiny houses to stay, built so that it won’t harm the current natural environment. Next time, I’d like to try out those tiny houses!

We made camp, and then started preparing dinner soon after. Washed and cut vegetables with fresh dirt on.

Don’t forget to let the rice rest in water for the best cooked rice!




When all the preparation for dinner was done, we head out to this campsite’s highlight, the sauna.

I feel like camp rides and sauna has become a staple combination in recent years. Why not, it’s that good!

 

At Shizenjin-Mura, you can enjoy a fully reserved sauna.

Timber scenting Barrel Sauna, and a luxurious stream in front of it to cool down, we were filled with excitement as we reached this lovely space.

Boiling hot!!

Freezing cold!!

Chilllllll

It was my first time trying out a Hydrangea scenting löyly, when I throw it on the hot stone, a kind and sweet smell like a nectar filled the space, we were so relaxed.

Rode our bikes in the heat, harvested some vegetables, a sauna session after a good level of fatigue, everyone seems refreshed.

 

We got out of the sauna, and now the long awaited dinner!

Tonight’s camp menu was freshly picked vegetables with home made curry! and MAX-san’s Chilli beans!

We were all first-timers when it comes to cooking rice in a Messtin, but the rice came out perfect with, shining glamorously.

It’s all ready!!! Itadakimasu!! (Japanese greeting when we start our meals)


Large scoop of rice with hand made curry, fried fresh vegetables and Chilli Beans on top! What a dish!

MAX-san’s Chilli Beans was soooooo delicious! Added some fresh coriander too, hmmm, nice!

With a can of beer, this refreshing trip become even better. Salad made with plates out of pet bottles, love this kinda vibe in camping.

 

We were all starving, and we soon emptied our plates.

After our meal, we made toasted marshmallows surrounding a fire, which Aro-chan wanted to do so bad.Night has fallen, and we were all feeling a comforting fatigue and a full stomach, The sound of fire made up sleepy, now it’s time for bed.

Good night…

 

Morning at camp was earlier than usual, with sounds from streams and animal moving around waking us up.

When I got out of the tent, MAX-san and Cent-san was already building a fire.

It was a slightly cool morning, so having fire was perfect, thank you to you two!

We were hungry, so shall we cook breakfast?

Was a lush breakfast, had MAX-san’s special Chilli Beans on a fresh cooked Bread from the Bakery.

Brewed some coffee as well, everything you want for a great morning.

After breakfast, we all started packing each of our gears, and with a stroll around a campsite, we were slowly ready to leave.

Was such a peaceful camp site! Next time I’d like to stay longer and have a even more relaxing time.

Thank you for having us!

 

At first we were planning to go back home straight, but we felt a bit sad parting ways with just this, so we decided to do one last journey in search of a great dish. Arrived at “Unagi Takase”, a popular Unagi restaurant alongside the Tamagawa river. (The “Unagi ride” was also done by Wakasu team as well by accident haha)


We just searched quickly and headed over to this place, but apparently it was a really popular one, an hour wait in the line! So popular, that it sold out whilst we were waiting! An hour standing was so worth it, Right after eating I could feel the energy running through my body!

 

And so that’s how we end our camp ride, well done to all!!

 

 

 

My 2nd time to join “SWIFT CAMPOUT”. I really enjoyed this awesome ride and camping with these members. This time, we wanted to do a easy-going camp ride which we only ride on bikes, thus made our destination in Tokyo.

I’m so glad we knew that we could achieve an extraordinary experience within the wilderness by cycling only a few hours. If you are not very used to bike packing, I bet it’s quite an hurdle to think about Rinko, or taking bikes on a car. I hope our experience will give you an example of what you can do without all of those difficulty.

We were really happy to see some pals along the way who got SWIFT bags on their bikes, heading out on their own campouts. I hope there will be even more people who joins us to this brilliant annual event next year!

 

That’s all from us, Thank you for reading!!